Muhammad
Mokaev moved one step closer to contention in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight division.
The unbeaten KHK MMA Team export subdued former Titan Fighting
Championship titleholder Tim Elliott
with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their featured
UFC 294 prelim on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. Elliott (19-13-1, 8-11 UFC) bowed out 3:03 into
Round 3, suffering his first submission defeat in more than three
years.
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Mokaev (11-0, 5-0 UFC) weaved through several harrowing moments—he
slammed himself out of a tight triangle choke in the second
round—on the canvas, settled in top position and applied his
ground-and-pound. He freed himself from a front headlock in Round
3, sprang a reversal and framed the arm-triangle. Before Elliott
could counter, the choke was in place.
Meanwhile, a more measured and tactical approach led Dana White’s
Contender Series graduate Trevor Peek
to a unanimous decision over Mohammad
Yahya in a three-round lightweight confrontation. Peek (9-1,
2-1 UFC) swept the cards with 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 scores from
the judges.
Yaha (12-4, 0-1 UFC) threatened with a brabo choke at the end of
Round 1 but failed to generate the offensive output necessary to
throw the Agoge Combatives rep off the scent. Peek marched forward
behind kicks and punches, employed an effective clinch and
surprised the former UAE Warriors champion with multiple takedowns,
advancing to full mount on two different occasions.
The loss snapped a five-five winning streak for Yahya, who became
the first Emirate to compete inside the Octagon.
Further down the undercard, Marathon MMA’s Mike
Breeden rallied to put away Anshul
Jubli with punches in the third round of their lightweight
encounter. Breeden (11-6, 1-3 UFC), who missed weight for the match
by 3.5 pounds, drew the curtain 3:00 into Round 3.
Jubli (7-1, 1-1 UFC) was comfortably in charge for the better part
of 10 minutes, as he unleashed kicks to the body and legs,
body-head punching combinations and close-range knee strikes. He
opened a pre-existing cut on Breeden’s left eyebrow in the second
round and continued to pile up points with punches, kicks and
knees. However, the Tiger Muay Thai product lost his way in the
third. Breeden stormed out with renewed vigor—he resorted to
audible barking and visible posturing in the center of the cage—and
appeared to freeze his counterpart with his antics.
Shots started to get through, and he eventually floored and
finished Jubli with a three-punch burst to the
head.
The victory was Breeden’s first since May 7, 2021.
Finally, Sharabutdin
Magomedov paired a variety of kicks to the head, body and legs
with a hyperactive bottom game, as he laid claim to a unanimous
decision over former M-1 Global champion Bruno Silva
in a three-round middleweight affair. All three cageside judges
scored it the same: 30-27 for the undefeated Sharabutdin (12-0, 1-0
UFC), who wowed the crowd in his hotly anticipated promotional
debut.
Silva (23-10, 4-4 UFC) flurried with power punches at the end of
the first round, then executed takedowns in the second and third.
However, he was under heavy fire no matter where the action went.
Magomedov shredded the Brazilian with kicks on the feet and
assaulted him with rapid-fire elbows, punches and upkicks from his
back after being taken down.
The 34-year-old Silva has lost four of his past five bouts.
In other action,
an inadvertent low blow from Javid
Basharat (14-0, 3-0 UFC) resulted in a no contest with Victor
Henry (23-6, 2-1 UFC) just 15 seconds into the second round of
their bantamweight pairing; Sedriques
Dumas (9-1, 2-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Abu Azaitar
(14-4-1, 1-2 UFC) in a three-round middleweight clash; Elevation
Fight Team’s Muhammadjon
Naimov (10-2, 2-0 UFC) was awarded a unanimous verdict over
Nathaniel
Wood (19-6, 7-3 UFC) in a three-round featherweight tilt; and
Victoria
Dudakova (8-0, 2-0 UFC) outstruck ex-Invicta Fighting
Championships titleholder Jinh Yu
Frey (11-10, 2-6 UFC) to a unanimous decision in a three-round
women’s strawweight encounter, drawing 29-28 marks on all three
scorecards.